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Braughing is famous for three things; sausages, Old Man's Day and the Wheelbarrow Race. Braughing sausages are still produced locally, available in the surrounding towns and villages in some outlets. They are lightly flavoured with herbs and spices and excellent with mashed potatoes and gravy.

The earliest recorded use of the 'the Folly' (the street called The Folly runs from Folly Bridge to the crossroads

with Thornton Street) was in 1732 when Little Hartham was conveyed by Thomas Ashby to John Nicholson and referred to as 'Ashby's Folly; that small piece of land was later to be the site for a militia hospital and a dumping ground for the waste from Hertford goal.

Londoner's had always drunk beer; they considered it healthier than their natural, untreated water. This demand was met by the brewers who had traditionally sourced the raw material for beer, the malt, from three main areas; Surrey, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

The reason for this is that the calculations for determining Easter were set long ago in the seventh century. It is recorded by the Venerable Bede that a meeting of the five bishops of the Kingdoms of England was called by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Hertfordshire appears to have had its fair share of religious worthies who have made their mark in the history books for acts of eccentricity.

It is said that her ghost walks far and wide over Nomansland Common, it haunts the hidden staircase at Markyate Cell and she can be heard riding all over the countryside. Her horse is black with white blazes. She has been seen swinging from the sycamore tree below which lies the treasure she stole.

Links to all my published articles on local history